Cleaning/updating 1993 CG-11

Canadian service/update of CG-11

I have owned and carefully maintained but rarely used a Celestron CG-11 since 1993. After an initial return to and reworking by Celestron, Ronchi and other test showed it to be a good sample. I've made some minor upgrades such as dis-assembling the mount and replacing "California grease" with high quality lithium grease, improving electrical connections, etc, but it needs a good internal cleaning, collimation, checking of centering, etc. It is used primarily as a portable instrument for visual observing and occasional piggy-back photography (but not advanced astro-photography, which I'll gladly leave to professionals). Am also interested in improving parts, connections and reliability, and also in digital setting circles (don't need GoTo, but I guess that more or less comes with it).

I contacted Group 7, and their answer was (of course!) to sell it, and buy a new Celestron 11 or Meade 12 telescope from them. On the eve of my 66th birthday, rarely using my telescope as it is, I really can't justify the expense and bother. I suppose that I could also contact my old friend, Alan Ward of Moonward coatings in Sudbury, Ontario (moonward@isys.ca), but wonder if there is someone who does good, comprehensive servicing of Celestron SCT's in -especially western- Canada.

Re: Cleaning/updating 1993 CG-11

Check for your local astronomy club and see if any members can do this for you. The things you are describing are pretty simple SCT maintenance issues, so I am sure someone would help you out if you asked. I sure wouldn't want to be shipping a C11 anywhere for servicing.

Re: Cleaning/updating 1993 CG-11

Originally Posted by Pitter

Check for your local astronomy club and see if any members can do this for you. The things you are describing are pretty simple SCT maintenance issues, so I am sure someone would help you out if you asked. I sure wouldn't want to be shipping a C11 anywhere for servicing.

First of, thank you for answering.

I have asked. Several times. And am in a fairly good position both to do so and also to have real doubts about the results. From 1995 to 1999 I was VP, then President of the "local astronomy club", the Saskatoon Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. At that time, there were people who claimed to be adept at doing the tricky part of the work; that is, the internal cleaning, which will require removing and replacing the corrector and replacing it - and any shims - correctly is what I am most concerned about. It was then only marginally necessary, and I was not sure that they were as adept and experienced as they proclaimed. Also, I was generally too busy using my telescope for public events to be able to spare, end even take the risk. I keep kicking myself for not sacrificing the time and handing it in to the telescope cleaning and maintenance which occurred as least one year, perhaps twice, during some of the first iterations of the Saskatchewan Summer Star, an event in whose founding I was very active.

Fifteen years later, collimation and cleaning are very much more necessary, and while I think I can probably collimate it with the help of Richard Huziak, a long time member (there's an asteroid named after him) one of these nights, I have real apprehensions about the cleaning. My mechanical skills over the years have been at least average. Enough to do basic work on cars, fairly advanced work on bicycles and things liken pool and hot-tub equipment, or take apart and re-assemble the mount. But as I get older, I find myself more reluctant to take on tricky new projects like re-assembling everything correctly/

I would, btw, very likely drive it to - and if wanted, quite willingly participate in - any service. That's why I'm looking regionally...though it's a heck of a large region.